Wealthiest International Sports Franchise?

[johnbeans]

A few buddies of mine have a small wager going. One thinks the New York Yankees are the wealthiest sports franchise in the world, and the other believes there's some soccer club (out of Scotland maybe?) that is wealthier. So does anybody know who is right or what the top 5 international sports franchises in the world are? Thanks

[Thremp]

[ QUOTE ]
A few buddies of mine have a small wager going. One thinks the New York Yankees are the wealthiest sports franchise in the world, and the other believes there's some soccer club (out of Scotland maybe?) that is wealthier. So does anybody know who is right or what the top 5 international sports franchises in the world are? Thanks

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Redskins FTW.

Man U might have taken it with the weaker dollar though as of late.

How are you determining wealth?

[johnbeans]

I'm actually not involved in the wager, however I don't think they had in mind company assets or anything of that nature when they made the bet. However, it's silly to talk about wealth without including assests. So I guess I would use the franchises total net value as the determinant (I'm not sure this is really a word but meh) of their wealth for this dispute.

[AngusThermopyle]

Forbes Football

At the bottom of the page are links to other sports (baseball and soccer).

Depending on exchange rates, Redskins and Manchester.

[paperchamp]

I would say the guy who said Manchester wins. While the exchange rate can make it difficult to tell if it's Manchester or the Skins, it's defnitely not the Yankees.

[goodsamaritan]

Wow, I'm kinda surprised by the Skins.

[beetman]

As an aside, calling Manchester United "Manchester" is like calling the Jets "New York," as there are two Manchester teams (Manchester United and Manchester City.) And, like the Jets and Giants, Manchester United plays in the outlying metro area in the borough of Trafford, not in Manchester proper.

[WaimanaloSlim]

Soccer team valuations:
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/34/Value_1.html

American sports team valuations:
http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/forbes.html

[dennison]

It depends how you're measuring wealth.

Real Madrid ranks higher than Man Utd in terms of revenue (says Deloitte) as of February 06, likely because of Man Utd's shock Champions League first round exit in the previous season.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/socce...st-clubs_x.htm

Keep in mind, top European clubs (Barcelona excepted) take in tens of millions of dollars every year in shirt advertising deals, and there is no salary cap in European football.

Regardless, I don't see how you can make a case for the Yankees.

[smbruin22]

i see a potential problem with the skins being #1 amongst nfl teams....

are they only #1 because they've been sold somewhat recently??

the new york giants haven't been sold recently, but i'd assume they'd fetch more than the redskins... and if not, it might only be because valuations have come down for all teams, redskins included....

is there a reason redskins are most valuable? tix sales, radio rights, merchandising rights (shared??)..... i know they have (had?) a very rabid fan base.

my presumption would be that someone like man u is most valuable with their worldwide following.